Moral Hazard Is Public Enemy No. 1

Moral hazard is a lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected from its consequences. It is found in actions and policies that basically reward bad behavior. In some cases it’s unintentional, yet in others it’s foolish and demonstrates incompetence.

In a move toward social justice, we see moral hazard daily as we read about another heinous crime committed by a career criminal who should have been incarcerated at the time of the new offense. People are dying as smug progressive activists and politicians smile and espouse their self-righteous talking points about helping the downtrodden. What an accumulation of horse dung!

If you reward bad behavior, guess what you get more of? … Bad behavior! We are seeing it everywhere, everyday and in every conceivable social scenario. Individuals and institutions fear holding bad actors accountable for their actions. Furthermore, nefarious proxies bully these same people and institutions with vile threats and litter their desks with illogical legal action. Cowardly leaders are buckling at the knees everywhere!

Rogue prosecutors who are doing anything possible to release career criminals while they go after cops in a historic makeover of justice is nothing short of tragic.

Some of the worst practitioners of moral hazard are the 50 or so George Soros-funded prosecutors scattered throughout the country. We’ve come to expect politicians to act like imbeciles as they pursue their pet projects, but rogue prosecutors who are doing anything possible to release career criminals while they go after cops in a historic makeover of justice is nothing short of tragic.

Essentially, they’ve been taking a wrecking ball to Lady Justice with the blinders covering her eyes, and they are proud of it! Not only are the blinders removed but they are now looking at the perceived politics of the people involved with a magnifying glass to determine a course of action.

Without punishment as part of the rehabilitation process there is no justice and we are simply fertilizing the criminal mind.  

As we see it applied to the criminal justice system, moral hazard is a policy or action that is intended to (naively) fix a problem, but actually leads to the multiplication of the very same problem. As long as bad people insist on doing bad things, society needs fair and righteous justice. Without punishment as part of the rehabilitation process there is no justice and we are simply fertilizing the criminal mind.

As a result, moral hazard has had a degrading impact on men and women who put themselves in harm’s way for the betterment of our communities. People called to the profession of law enforcement are some of the best individuals I’ve known, yet the institution has been maligned without regard for the outcome.

This is a sobering plea to any who will listen and act upon these words. Society needs to stop minimizing and rewarding criminal behavior in such a way that it actually increases the likelihood that it will happen again. Those who work in the criminal justice system know too well, offenders are highly likely to re-offend. We should be supportive of any program that helps someone find a better path in life, but we need to stop incentivizing crime for political gain or any other reason.

I believe God created us as moral beings, and our societies are structured according to the moral code of its leaders. Every law on the books is based upon the moral worldview of those who legislated it.

“We can’t escape the morality. After all, we’re talking here about moral hazard. That’s a reflection of the fact that this is fundamentally a moral reality,” said theologian and political commentator, Dr. Albert Mohler in the context of government and social order.

Bad behavior is contagious enough when it’s not rewarded. It can and will become a criminal contagion when it is rewarded as society fails to challenge illegal conduct. The moral hazard is complete when leaders unintentionally say, “This is the kind of behavior we reward.” … and too often, that behavior involves crime!

The message may or may not be audible, but actions speak louder than words. Radicals have been advertising and demanding decarceration while people who should know better have been persuaded to go along with it out of fear of being called names.

“A government that increases moral hazard is not only incompetent, it’s downright dangerous,” Mohler said, and I couldn’t agree more.

Are you participating in moral hazard or fighting its infestation? Join the battle and let’s take the hill.

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• You can read more editorials from Jim McNeff here.
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Source: www.lawofficer.com